My Journey as Fourth Kazekage

Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village)

Located in the desert, Sunagakure is the ninja village with the harshest geographical environment among the Five Great Ninja Villages. The entire village is situated within a massive canyon surrounded by towering desert mountains. On the surface, it appears to be a land of scarce resources and extreme conditions.

However, this unique geography also grants Sunagakure a strategic advantage that other ninja villages lack.

Firstly, the vast canyon in which Sunagakure is nestled acts like a mother's embrace, providing perfect natural protection. To enter the village, even a flying ninja like Deidara can only pass through the canyon's entrance—a narrow passage less than ten meters wide, but nearly a hundred meters long and close to a thousand meters high, known as "Heaven's Rift."

Secondly, the barren environment of both Sunagakure and the Land of Wind discourages other nations from invading. After all, the main objectives of war are land and resources, and in both aspects, Sunagakure and the Land of Wind offer little to desire.

Yet, despite this seemingly impregnable defensive position, this advantage has also bred an unwarranted sense of courage among Sunagakure's ninjas, clouding their judgment.

As the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, clad in his white Kazekage robe, arrived at the top floor of the Kazekage Tower with his trusted aide, Baki, the sounds of a heated discussion from the massive conference room could already be heard from afar.

"This is the best time for Sunagakure! We can't just sit back and watch any longer…"

"That's right! Kumogakure has been provoking Konoha at the border of the Land of Fire, and a war is about to break out. Meanwhile, Iwagakure has also deployed a large force into the Land of Grass, threatening Konoha's borders and clearly trying to take advantage of the situation. Most of Konoha's military strength is now tied up dealing with Kumogakure and Iwagakure—this is our chance!"

"Right now, only Sunagakure and Kirigakure are staying out of this. But with the sea and desert separating us from Kirigakure, we don't have to worry about them interfering. This situation is extremely favorable for us—whether we fight Konoha, Kumogakure, or Iwagakure, it will work to our advantage."

"Obviously, we should target Konoha! White Fang may be dead, but we can't just let the deaths of Lords Ao and Aka be forgotten!"

"Konoha is definitely involved in the disappearance of the Third Kazekage!"

"Why hasn't the Kazekage arrived yet? This is such an important meeting…"

Listening to the impassioned debates from outside the door, Rasa was speechless.

He truly wanted to ask—who gave Sunagakure's ninjas the courage to participate in this ninja war?

Was it Jesus from the skies or a promise from US government.

Forget about Konoha's lower- and mid-tier ninjas—just their high-level combatants alone were terrifying. The Third Hokage was still in his prime, Minato Namikaze had evolved into the "Yellow Flash," the legendary Sannin remained formidable, and there was even a Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.

Each of these six individuals alone could take on thousands of enemies. It wasn't that Rasa lacked confidence in himself, but he had no assurance of victory against any of them.

Not to mention, the Uchiha clan was still intact, and the Hyūga clan remained a powerful force.

Even if they ignored Konoha, both Kumogakure and Iwagakure were not adversaries that Sunagakure could easily contend with.

If they wanted a fight, what chance did they have?

The Third Raikage of Kumogakure was someone who could arm-wrestle the Eight-Tails. The Fourth Raikage, along with the Jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails and the Two-Tails, had all grown into formidable warriors.

As for Iwagakure, while they didn't have many famous ninjas, Ōnoki alone with his Dust Release was more than Rasa could handle. Not to mention, they also had two Tailed Beasts and their respective Jinchūriki.

And what did Sunagakure have?

Magnet Release? Puppet Techniques? Scorch Release? Poison? Shukaku?

Compared to the other villages, they weren't even in the same league. How were they supposed to win a fight?

Thinking about all this, Rasa couldn't help but sigh.

Yes, the current Rasa was no longer the same as before.

Just last night, Rasa was still an ordinary office worker. While walking home, something hit him out of nowhere, causing him to black out. When he woke up, he found himself in the world of Naruto, having taken over the body of the recently appointed Fourth Kazekage—Rasa.

The same Rasa who, without even taking off his Kazekage robe, was assassinated by Orochimaru. The same Rasa who, in a tragic twist of fate, tried to turn his son Gaara into a Tailed Beast weapon and even ordered his brother-in-law to assassinate him.

At first, Rasa struggled to adjust.

For one, he had been just an ordinary office worker. Even though he had inherited the memories of the Fourth Kazekage, he still wasn't used to a world where killing was commonplace.

Secondly, Rasa's potential was incredibly underwhelming. Magnet Release was practically worthless compared to the world-shattering Bloodline Limits in Naruto. Based on his inherited memories, Magnet Release worked by condensing chakra into a highly concentrated form to generate magnetic forces and manipulate metals. It wasn't anything as powerful as Magneto's control over electromagnetic fields.

In other words, due to the limitations of chakra, the ceiling for Magnet Release was painfully low. At best, it could reach Shukaku's level, which was already considered impressive. But compared to what Konoha had—not even counting Indra and Asura, just the Sharingan and Byakugan alone—Magnet Release didn't even come close.

And yet, this was the so-called "pride" of Sunagakure's Bloodline Limits.

Finally, the village itself lacked potential. The harsh environment left Sunagakure heavily reliant on the Daimyō's financial support since it had little ability to sustain itself. On top of that, the village's ninja forces were extremely limited, with very few Bloodline Limits. If not for Puppet Techniques and Shukaku's existence, Sunagakure probably wouldn't even qualify as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Still, regardless of his struggles, Rasa had no choice. He was here now.

Fortunately, fate had not completely abandoned him.

Just as he had resolved to take responsibility as the Fourth Kazekage in this world—

His cheat ability arrived, albeit a little late!

Rasa discovered a black diamond-shaped mark on the palm of his hand.

Luckily, he had watched Boruto: Naruto Next Generations before transmigrating. Thanks to some video explanations, he recognized exactly what it was.

It was something belonging to the Ōtsutsuki Clan—the Kama Seal!

The Kama Seal was essentially a backup of an Ōtsutsuki's data, implanted into another person. Over time, the seal would gradually "unfreeze" and revive the Ōtsutsuki within the host's body—similar to the soul-possessing techniques seen in Xianxia novels.

"In other words, right now, I have become a mere tool for some Ōtsutsuki's resurrection?"

That wasn't something he remembered from the Naruto storyline!

However, Rasa wasn't the type to dwell on things unnecessarily. The most important priority right now was adapting to his new body and identity. As for whether this diamond-shaped mark was truly an Ōtsutsuki Kama Seal, he'd wait and see how it developed before concluding.

After all, being possessed by an alien god was weird but not nearly as bizarre as transmigrating into Naruto in the first place.

That was also why he had arrived late to such an important meeting—despite it already being midday.

He had spent the entire night sorting through the original Fourth Kazekage Rasa's memories and familiarizing himself with his new powers.

And the situation… did not look promising.

On one hand, Sunagakure was in terrible shape. On the other, Konoha basically had Gundams!

Even though he had fully inherited the original Rasa's strength thanks to memory fusion, he still stood no chance against Konoha's monsters.

Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God and Rasengan, Jiraiya's Sage Mode and Mount Myōboku's summoning beasts, Orochimaru's immortality and Ryūchi Cave, Tsunade's unparalleled medical ninjutsu and Shikkotsu Forest, Kushina Uzumaki's Nine-Tails and Uzumaki vitality, the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, the Hyūga Clan's Byakugan—not a single one of these forces was something Sunagakure could hope to match.

And that wasn't even mentioning the so-called Professor of Ninjutsu, the strongest Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

But at least… he wasn't completely without hope.

If the diamond-shaped mark on his palm really was the Ōtsutsuki Clan's Kama Seal, then at least before he got possessed, he should be able to wield some of the Ōtsutsuki's powers—enough to ensure his survival in the early Naruto timeline.

The only problem was… how did he even use it?

All he remembered from Boruto was that the Kama Seal could absorb chakra and ninjutsu, serving as a vessel for the Ōtsutsuki's resurrection. Beyond that, he had no idea how to activate it.

However… chakra, huh?

Didn't Sunagakure have a massive source of chakra?

Shukaku, the One-Tail!

Maybe it was worth experimenting!

The only issue was that, while Rasa was technically the Kazekage and leader of Sunagakure, not everything in the village was under his direct control.

For example, Shukaku wasn't in his hands. It was currently under the control of the village's Sealing Corps, which was overseen by the elder Ebizō.

And Ebizō just so happened to be the younger brother of Chiyo, who commanded Sunagakure's Puppet Brigade.

In other words, the two most powerful factions in Sunagakure were not under his command.

Fortunately, he had leverage over them.

As for the upcoming Third Shinobi World War…

Rasa had no interest in participating.

The outcome was already decided—Sunagakure had no way of profiting from this war.

But as mentioned before, this village didn't always listen to him.

Still, he had already made up his mind: if Sunagakure had to enter the war, then he would decide how it was fought.

If anyone disagreed… well, they'd just have to die.

While he lacked the confidence to face Konoha's monsters, dealing with a few disobedient elders in Sunagakure was well within his abilities—especially since the Kama Seal could absorb ninjutsu, making it an almost invincible ability at this stage.

So, Rasa had made up his mind.

The most crucial thing right now was securing his position in Sunagakure and fully taking control of the village as the Kazekage.

Everything else could wait.

With this in mind, Rasa steeled his resolve.

Just then, a firm, authoritative voice of an elderly woman rang out from the conference room.

"All this arguing—what a disgrace! Now that the Fourth Kazekage has arrived, let's hear what he has to say!"

The moment Rasa heard that voice, an inexplicable sense of frustration bubbled up from within him—an emotion that clearly came from the original Rasa's memories.

"Tch… damn old hag…" he muttered under his breath.

Standing beside him, Baki broke into a cold sweat.

Luckily, Rasa was merely venting and did nothing further.

He knew it was time for him to make his entrance.

So, he pushed open the doors and stepped inside.